This dissertation explores the changing nature of food provisioning in the contemporary Third World city, employing the experience of Accra, Ghana, as a case study. The issue is studied by examining changes that are occurring within urban food markets, and how households are altering their food acquisition patterns in response to structural changes within the city. The investigation provides an in-depth analysis of the policy framework and socio-economic context for the delivery of, and access to, food in Accra, and probes the food situation as a window to investigate broader issues relating to poverty, livelihoods, and coping strategies within a Third World city. Data were collected from three markets and six residential neighbourhoods through focus group discussions and personal interviews. The investigation reveals that the food system has been altered by processes of transformation occurring in the city, with dire implication for access to food by the poor. The activities of traders in maintaining the urban food supply emphasize the dominance of individual initiatives in sustaining the city. The household surveys show that the level of direct engagement between households and the food market is waning, as households increasingly source their food from city’s various food outlets. This does not mean that food markets are losing their significance in the food supply chain. They remain the nexus between the source of supply (farmstead or port) and the urban household consumer. This case study indicates that urban economic restructuring is translated into the lives of residents by altering how people meet their needs. It illustrates how individuals and households adopt new ways of engaging their changing environment and navigating the landscape in order to survive. The coping strategies adopted highlight the resilience of vulnerable groups to this precarious urban landscape. These people are not passive victims to the constraints they face. Their responses to crisis make them active participants in the transformation of the city. The study concludes that understanding how the poor organize themselves to meet their challenges is key to understanding any interventions that are designed to tackle urban poverty or improve access to basic needs in the city. / Thesis (Ph.D, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2009-04-24 10:56:51.709

The successful economic growth and the rapid changing of urban development had changed Singapore from a developing to a developed country. The living environment of Singapore has been changed with in the last 25 years. My thesis mainly describes foods and food markets in Singapore. Due to better educational background, higher consumption power and small family planning, the eating habit of Singaporeans has changed. A lot of young Singaporeans today, don't buy their daily marketing needs from the traditional wet market for they prefer to do their weekly marketing in the comfortable, clean, convenient and air conditioned modern supermarket. With the advance electronic cooking equipment in kitchen, they save time in cooking to buy prepared or instant cooked food from supermarkets, instead of raw foodstuff from the traditional wet markets. These rapid changes of the Singaporeans' life style and eating habit created an opportunity. For me to look into the area that directly or indirectly involved with my professional work as a practicing graphic designer and a design educator. The area I am looking into is 'the value of food packaging'. I realized that the contrast of the traditional foodstuffs selling in traditional wet market and the imported foodstuffs displayed within the modern supermarket, the difference has signaled a strong message. If the traditional foodstuffs still does not improve their dull and unhygienic image to catch up with the rapid changing urban living environment. They will disappear from our dining table sooner or later. My thesis has to reach 2 aims. Firstly, to awake the design students (tomorrow's designer). To be more sensitive towards the local traditional food markets. Discover the values of the local ethnic foodstuffs and going to find out why these delicious and remarkable local foodstuffs been rejected outside of the modern supermarket. To create a new image through packaging design to replace with the original dull and unhygienic image. Secondly, the contents and the criterias of the modern packaging design I proposed within this thesis, could be applicable in the practicing design field, food manufactory and most importantly, in the design institutions / Master of Design (Hons)

No description available.

Scientific research, technological development, and commercialisation are processes through which new technologies continually emerge and enter markets. Nanotechnology is an example of an emergent technology (or rather a suite of technologies) which promises to open up a universe of possibilities for the development of new products and processes. Advocates of the technology argue that nanotechnology has the potential to spur economic development while at the same time offering partial solutions to many of the grand challenges of our times such as alleviating hunger, providing new energy sources, reducing climate change, curing diseases, etc. However, alongside these optimistic views, there are also fears and apprehensions concerning the safe and ethical development of nanotechnologies, including the need to address potential negative impacts on the natural environment and human health and safety. The food and food packaging area has shown itself to be a particularly sensitive sector in this respect where the potential for nanoparticles to enter the human body has enhanced the sensitivity of the industry to public concern. The past has shown that any changes or modifications made to food have resulted in public backlash (e.g. GM foods). Due to this some parts of the food and packaging industry remain cautious about making transparent their use of nanotechnologies in their products and processes. However, simultaneously pressure is mounting from regulatory agencies, and from some activists, to pursue the safe and 'responsible' development of nanotechnologies (whatever that may be) as an ethical obligation. The use of nanotechnologies in food and food packaging has become increasingly complex because of its introduction at various points in the food chain, giving rise to debates as to "who is responsible". As a contribution to the debate on what constitutes the 'responsible' governance of new/emergent technologies, this thesis investigates the governance of nanotechnologies and the idea of 'responsibility' and 'responsible innovation' through the lens of perspectives of different actors within the nanotech food chain. A qualitative research methodology was used where semi-structured interviews were conducted with a heterogeneous group of actors with a particular focus on the food and food packaging sectors. Research in comparative national settings (Canada and India) was conducted on the grounds that regulation of nanotechnologies differs significantly across OECD and non-OECD countries, and where the global debate on nanotechnologies is organised and dominated by OECD countries. Findings from this thesis showed that the set of critical elements, such as health and safety, that are put forward by such OECD countries like Canada for the 'responsible' development of nanotechnologies are not the same as that found in India and are seen to differ. In India, meeting the grand challenges of society such as food security, clean drinking water and alleviating poverty take precedent over other elements, where science, technology (such as nanotechnologies) and innovation are harnessed by entrepreneurs, and small and large firms to solve these national problems. However, while I began the study with the intention of comparing two national territories with different regulatory settings, the study also found a case of collaborative Canada-India transnational research network where 'responsibility' is influenced through certain funding criteria set by the more dominant partner, Canada. This suggests the return of public intervention by dominant OECD countries in pro-actively shaping R&D processes that are influencing the 'responsible' development of nano-products in such emerging markets, where there is a potential for future trade associations.

<p>The main objective of this study was to identify ways in which transaction costs can be lowered to improve small-scale farmers&rsquo / participation in and returns from agricultural output markets, with specific reference to small-scale mango farmers in Limpopo province. This study hypothesizes that transaction costs are lower in informal spot markets and increase when small-scale farmers sell in more structured markets (formal markets). This study builds on transaction cost economics (TCE) to demonstrate how to overcome transaction cost barriers that small-scale mango farmers face in the agro-food markets. The approach to collect primary information was sequenced in two steps: first, key informant and focus group interviews were conducted and, secondly, a structured survey instrument was administered in two districts of Limpopo. A total of 235 smallscale mango farmers were interviewed. A binary logistic regression model was used to estimate the impact of transaction costs on the likelihood of households&rsquo / participation in formal (=1) and informal (=0) agro-food markets. STATA Version 10 was used to analyse the data. This study found that a larger proportion of male than female farming households reported participation in the formal markets, suggesting deep-seated gender differentiation in market participation. The average age of small farmers participating in formal markets is 52, compared to 44 for those in informal markets, implying that older farmers might have established stronger networks and acquired experience over a longer period. Farmers staying very far from the densely populated towns (more than 50 km) participate less in the formal markets than those staying closer (0 &ndash / 25 km and 26 &ndash / 49 km), which implies that the further they are from the towns, the less the likelihood of farmers selling in the formal markets. Farmers who own storage facilities and a bakkie (transportation means) participate more in formal markets compared to those who do not own these assets, which suggests that these farmers are able to store mangoes, retaining their freshness and subsequently delivering them to various agro-food markets on time. Households that participate in formal markets have high mean values of income and social grants. However, this study found that the likelihood of a household&rsquo / s participation in the markets is less as income and social grants increase. This suggests that households do not invest their financial assets in order to overcome market access barriers. A large proportion of households that own larger pieces of arable land participate in the formal markets, which implies that they are able to produce marketable surplus. Households that have a high mean value (in Rand) of cattle participate more in formal markets than in informal markets. However, this study found that the likelihood of a household&rsquo / s participation in the markets does not change with an increase in the value of its livestock. These findings suggest that households do not sell their cattle in order to overcome market access barriers. Reduced transaction costs for small-scale mango farmers in Limpopo should improve their participation in and returns from the agro-food markets. Policy interventions to support this need to focus on: access to storage and transportation facilities, enforcement of gender equity requirements in existing policies, and better access to information about markets.</p>

<p>The main objective of this study was to identify ways in which transaction costs can be lowered to improve small-scale farmers&rsquo / participation in and returns from agricultural output markets, with specific reference to small-scale mango farmers in Limpopo province. This study hypothesizes that transaction costs are lower in informal spot markets and increase when small-scale farmers sell in more structured markets (formal markets). This study builds on transaction cost economics (TCE) to demonstrate how to overcome transaction cost barriers that small-scale mango farmers face in the agro-food markets. The approach to collect primary information was sequenced in two steps: first, key informant and focus group interviews were conducted and, secondly, a structured survey instrument was administered in two districts of Limpopo. A total of 235 smallscale mango farmers were interviewed. A binary logistic regression model was used to estimate the impact of transaction costs on the likelihood of households&rsquo / participation in formal (=1) and informal (=0) agro-food markets. STATA Version 10 was used to analyse the data. This study found that a larger proportion of male than female farming households reported participation in the formal markets, suggesting deep-seated gender differentiation in market participation. The average age of small farmers participating in formal markets is 52, compared to 44 for those in informal markets, implying that older farmers might have established stronger networks and acquired experience over a longer period. Farmers staying very far from the densely populated towns (more than 50 km) participate less in the formal markets than those staying closer (0 &ndash / 25 km and 26 &ndash / 49 km), which implies that the further they are from the towns, the less the likelihood of farmers selling in the formal markets. Farmers who own storage facilities and a bakkie (transportation means) participate more in formal markets compared to those who do not own these assets, which suggests that these farmers are able to store mangoes, retaining their freshness and subsequently delivering them to various agro-food markets on time. Households that participate in formal markets have high mean values of income and social grants. However, this study found that the likelihood of a household&rsquo / s participation in the markets is less as income and social grants increase. This suggests that households do not invest their financial assets in order to overcome market access barriers. A large proportion of households that own larger pieces of arable land participate in the formal markets, which implies that they are able to produce marketable surplus. Households that have a high mean value (in Rand) of cattle participate more in formal markets than in informal markets. However, this study found that the likelihood of a household&rsquo / s participation in the markets does not change with an increase in the value of its livestock. These findings suggest that households do not sell their cattle in order to overcome market access barriers. Reduced transaction costs for small-scale mango farmers in Limpopo should improve their participation in and returns from the agro-food markets. Policy interventions to support this need to focus on: access to storage and transportation facilities, enforcement of gender equity requirements in existing policies, and better access to information about markets.</p>

Los escaparates virtuales, la venta online y la puesta en valor de los circuitos de producción cortos y agroecológicos a través de eficaces políticas de comunicación en las redes sociales son ejemplos de lo que hoy están usando muchos pequeños comerciantes para poner en valor su expertise tradicional, paradójicamente basada en la cercanía y el trato directo. en este artículo analizamos el papel de las tecnologías digitales en la re-significación y re-activación del pequeño comercio y de los mercados de abastos tradicionales. el uso de tecnologías digitales pone en entredicho la visión de Internet como agente de desterritorialización y de creación de una cultura global, ante la presencia de nuevas formas de localización basadas en la emergencia de nuevas formas de convivialidad, agroecología y alimentación saludable. / Virtual storefronts, online sales, the enhancement of short and agroecological circuits of production through effective communication policies in social networks, are strategies that many small businesses are now using to value their traditional expertise, paradoxically based on proximity and direct treatment. this article analyzes the role of digital technologies in the re-signification and re-activation of small businesses and traditional markets. the use of digital technologies challenges Internet as an agent of deterritorialization and creation of global culture, in front of the presence of new forms of localization based on the emergence of new forms of conviviality, agroecology and healthy eating.

Magister Economicae - MEcon / The main objective of this study was to identify ways in which transaction costs can be lowered to improve small-scale farmers’ participation in and returns from agricultural output markets, with specific reference to small-scale mango farmers in Limpopo province. This study hypothesizes that transaction costs are lower in informal spot markets and increase when small-scale farmers sell in more structured markets (formal markets). This study builds on transaction cost economics (TCE) to demonstrate how to overcome transaction cost barriers that small-scale mango farmers face in the agro-food markets. The approach to collect primary information was sequenced in two steps: first, key informant and focus group interviews were conducted and, secondly, a structured survey instrument was administered in two districts of Limpopo. A total of 235 smallscale mango farmers were interviewed. A binary logistic regression model was used to estimate the impact of transaction costs on the likelihood of households’ participation in formal (=1) and informal (=0) agro-food markets. STATA Version 10 was used to analyse the data. This study found that a larger proportion of male than female farming households reported participation in the formal markets, suggesting deep-seated gender differentiation in market participation. The average age of small farmers participating in formal markets is 52, compared to 44 for those in informal markets, implying that older farmers might have established stronger networks and acquired experience over a longer period. Farmers staying very far from the densely populated towns (more than 50 km) participate less in the formal markets than those staying closer (0 – 25 km and 26 – 49 km), which implies that the further they are from the towns, the less the likelihood of farmers selling in the formal markets. Farmers who own storage facilities and a bakkie (transportation means) participate more in formal markets compared to those who do not own these assets, which suggests that these farmers are able to store mangoes, retaining their freshness and subsequently delivering them to various agro-food markets on time. Households that participate in formal markets have high mean values of income and social grants. However, this study found that the likelihood of a household’s participation in the markets is less as income and social grants increase. This suggests that households do not invest their financial assets in order to overcome market access barriers. A large proportion of households that own larger pieces of arable land participate in the formal markets, which implies that they are able to produce marketable surplus. Households that have a high mean value (in Rand) of cattle participate more in formal markets than in informal markets. However, this study found that the likelihood of a household’s participation in the markets does not change with an increase in the value of its livestock. These findings suggest that households do not sell their cattle in order to overcome market access barriers. Reduced transaction costs for small-scale mango farmers in Limpopo should improve their participation in and returns from the agro-food markets. Policy interventions to support this need to focus on: access to storage and transportation facilities, enforcement of gender equity requirements in existing policies, and better access to information about markets. / South Africa

I det här examensarbetet undersöks policy och nätverksstruktur för REKO-konceptet – ett sätt för små livsmedelsproducenter att genom Facebook samordna försäljning direkt till slutkonsumenter. Uppsatsen diskuterar REKO som ett samtidsfenomen påverkat av stora trender som den digitala omvandlingen av samhället och en allt längre livsmedelskedja. Den beskriver och diskuterar hur policy skapas och sprids i ett platt nätverk utan formell beslutsfattning. Analysen av policyn visar vidare att ”enkelhet” är en fokalpunkt i nätverket, vilket är laddat med olika värde beroende på ställning i nätverket. Arbetets netnografiska underlösning beskriver och analyserar nätverksstrukturen ur olika aktörsperspektiv – vilket visar att då REKO syftar till att uppnå olika mål för dess aktörer kan det gestaltas annorlunda beroende på aktörsperspektiv. Arbetet sätter även fenomenet REKO i en allmän teknokulturell kontext där internet och dess sociala medier får en allt större betydelse för människan. / This bachelor level thesis examines policy and network structure for the Swedish food distribution network called REKO. A network which matches local producers with consumers through Facebook. The thesis discusses REKO as a cotemporally example of technoculture under influence of trends such as the digital transformation of social life and longer distances between producer and end consumer. The thesis also describes and discuss how policy is made and recreated in a flat network without legal bodies. The policy analysis shows how “simplicity” is a focal point loaded with different meanings and goals. In the nethnographic part of the study describes the shifting shape of the network. Lastly the thesis puts REKO in a general technocultural context where internet and social media still gets a bigger role for humanity.

Background and motivation Informal food vending has many benefits that range from food security for the urban poor, to contribution to local economies. Yet, the street food sector is not recognized and is treated as a major public health risk. This is based partly on perceptions of local authorities that street food vendors are undesirable, or are a temporary phenomenon that will disappear in due course as a result of development. Moreover, a number of studies have documented contamination of street foods with pathogenic microorganisms like Staphylococci aureus and enteric organisms. The former can grow and express virulence in foods such as meat and meat products post cooking. To date no participatory risk analysis methods have been applied to informal markets in Tshwane, to study the food value chain of ready-to-eat (RTE) chicken and quantify the risk of exposure to selected foodborne diseases, or to determine predictors for contamination of RTE chicken sold by informal vendors. Methodology A cross-sectional analytical study design was adopted to achieve the objectives of the present study. The study area was city of Tshwane, Gauteng Province, South Africa. The study population was informal vendors selling RTE chicken to commuters at taxi and bus stations and the sampling design involved cluster sampling. Markets were the sampling units and the informal vendors the units of concern. All clusters (n=13) that were identified were included in the study and all informal vendors located within the markets were invited to be part of the study. A total of 237 vendors agreed to be interviewed, have checklists filled in for their vending stalls, and provided a sample of RTE chicken (n= 237) for laboratory analysis. Participatory Risk Analysis, a novel approach to understanding food safety in data scarce environments, was used to collect data for analysis. Participatory research methods employed in this study included: check-lists and structured interviews with informal vendors, proportional piling and focus group discussions. Enumeration of bacterial colonies from RTE chicken samples was performed using 3MTM PetrifilmTM plates (3M, St. Paul. Mn, USA). Data for the demographic profile of vendors (n=237) was analysed using descriptive statistics to establish means and proportions. Thematic analysis combined with descriptive statistical analysis was used to establish and quantify the food value chain of informally traded RTE chicken. Stochastic risk analysis using @Risk 4.5 (Palisade Corp., Ithaca, N.Y.), was used to estimate the risk of staphylococcal food poisoning from consumption of street-vended RTE chicken. Univariable and multivariable regression models were developed using Stata 9.0 (StataCorp, College Station, Texas, USA) to determine predictors for contamination of RTE chicken with E. coli and coliform bacteria respectively. Results The majority of vendors in the markets studied were females (92%), and were between 25-50 years of age. Very few young people (< 25 years) were involved. More than half of the vendors (69.47%) ran the informal food outlet as a personal business. The minority were long term employees (15.04%) or were hired to help out for a short period of time (0.88%). A high level of literacy was observed among informal vendors. Assessment of hygiene practices showed a low level of compliance with regard to possession of a certificate of acceptance, washing of hands and utensils in the same container and controlling flies at the vending site. The environment in which informal vendors operated was not conducive to production of safe food. This means that Key 1 of the WHO five keys to safer food that requires that food production takes place in a clean environment was violated. Contamination of RTE chicken was associated with the use of water collected and supplied in containers of questionable microbiological status. This was because vendors also violated Key 5 of the WHO five keys to safer food, which requires that raw materials, including water used to prepare food should be of a high microbiological quality. However, high compliance was observed with regard to the following aspects: not wearing jewellery while preparing food, using cutlery to pick up RTE chicken, washable floors (concrete slabs and cemented floors), use of potable municipal water, preparing food in a closed structure (temporary or permanent) and locating vending stalls within 30m from the toilets. Four food value chains for RTE chicken, sold by informal vendors, were identified showing extensive cross-over from the formal to informal sector. This extensive cross-over, was corroborated by the fact that over 79.3% of the RTE chicken sold on informal markets in Tshwane metropolis, was sourced from formal markets such as supermarkets or wholesalers. The food value chain for RTE chicken was short, meaning that it involved very few stages from farm to fork. Furthermore the tendency was for the RTE chicken to be purchased, cooked and consumed the same day. Although the prevalence of contamination of RTE chicken with S. aureus was high (44%), the risk of staphylococcal food poisoning was estimated to be only 1.3% (90% CI: 0% - 2.7%) for each meal of RTE chicken consumed. The mean S. aureus counts in the RTE chicken was 103.6 (90% CI: 103.3 – 103.9). This level was lower than the 105 CFU/g needed to induce staphylococcal food poisoning. While contamination of RTE chicken with E. coli (6.32 %) was low, contamination with coliforms (23.21 %) was moderate. This suggests a moderate level of food hygiene. The fly population at the stalls where the RTE was on display, intermittent washing of hands, the location of the stall >30 m from the toilets and holding RTE chicken at <70 C were identified as important predictors of contamination with E. coli. Whereas, the use of potable toilets without hand washing facilities and poor hand washing practices were a positive predictor for contamination with coliforms. Conclusions The informal trade in food in Tshwane is dominated by women and for the majority of these vendors the informal trade in food, is the main source of employment. A risk communication strategy needs to take this into consideration. There is need for intervention to improve the hygiene in the informal markets and ensure that informal vendors observe the WHO five keys to safe food. The high level of literacy observed among informal vendors is good news, as it presents a situation of educated vendors; a fertile ground for initiatives aimed at improving their lives and the service they offer to their customers. There is neither a food policy aimed at ensuring food security for the urban poor nor evidence it is being implemented. This is supported by the high number of vendors operating in temporary structures. There is a need for the municipal authorities to intervene, to provide appropriate structures. Planning of new taxi ranks should include a proper food market, with facilities that meet the legal requirements for production of safe food. Informal vendors have demonstrated an awareness of the need to practice good food hygiene as proved by the compliance with certain hygienic food handling practices. The link between the formal and informal markets suggests that the informal market of RTE chicken is well-established with a reliable source of raw chicken. Furthermore, the strong inter-linkage between the formal and informal value chain for RTE chicken, further confirms the informal sector as a potential market for locally produced product. It also emphasizes its potential to impact on the economy of the city. In addition, this strong inter-linkage, suggests that the risks associated with the formal sector might be mirrored in the informal. Therefore, as the supermarket proliferation takes root in the rest of Africa, this food value chain and its associated risks might become the norm on the continent. The present study shows that participatory risk analysis is a good way to obtain data on informal markets. Such data can then be subjected to quantitative microbial risk analysis using sophisticated biostatistical techniques, to determine and quantify the microbial risks. The low risk of staphylococcal food poisoning proved that despite the poor working conditions under which the informal food vendors prepare food, they are able to produce food that is unlikely to result in food poisoning. However, due to the high prevalence of contamination of RTE chicken with S. aureus, there is a need for the informal vendors in these markets to be trained to improve hygienic food handling practices. On the positive side, the present study demonstrated that high prevalence of contamination does not always translate into high risk. The relatively low to moderate level of contamination with E. coli and coliforms respectively, suggests a low risk of enteric foodborne diseases from ingestion of RTE chicken. Given that some and not all hygiene practices were significantly associated with contamination of RTE chicken, monitoring authorities should emphasise identified predicators to reduce the risk of contamination and the subsequent risk of contracting foodborne diseases. The difference in hygiene scoring highlights that the one-size-fits all approach to monitoring of informal markets may not be effective. These need to be tailored to suit the individual informal markets. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / tm2015 / Paraclinical Sciences / PhD / Unrestricted